1) Preheat oven to 250 F. 2) Combine popcorn & peanuts in metal bowl
(lge. roasting pan) and place in preheated oven. 3) Combine all
remaining ingreds. in saucepan, and bring to boil over med. heat,
stirring constantly until candy thermometer reaches 260 F., abt 20 to
25 min. 4) Remove popcorn & peanuts from oven and, working quickly,
pour the caramel mixture in a fine stream over them. Return to oven
for 15 min. 5) Mix well every 5 min., so that all of the popcorn is
coated evenly. Cool and store airtight to preserve freshness.
Yield:4 qts.
In 1871 a German immigrant named F.W. Rueckheim came to Chicago with
$200 in his pocket. He used all of his money to open a small popcorn
shop in the city and started selling a sweet caramel and
molasses-coated popcorn confection. Rueckheim's big break came in
1893, when the treat was served at Chicago's first world's fair. From
then on the popcorn's popularity grew enormously. In 1896 a salesman
tasting the treat for the first time said, "Thats a cracker jack,"
and the name stuck. Shortly after Cracker Jack's debut another
customer commented, "The more you eat, the more you want," and that's
still the slogan today.
In 1912 the Cracker Jack Company started adding toy surprises,
ranging from small books to minature metal toy trains. To date they
have given away 17 billion toy surprises. In 1964 Borden, Inc. bought
Cracker Jack Company, and today the Cracker Jack division is the
largest user of popcorn in the world, popping more than 20 tons daily.
From "Top Secret Recipes", by Todd Wilbur
